This is what should be doneBy one who is skilled in goodness,And who knows the path of peace:Let them be able and upright,Straightforward and gentle in speech.Humble and not conceited,Contented and easily satisfied.Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.

Peaceful and calm, and wise and skilful,Not proud and demanding in nature.Let them not do the slightest thingThat the wise would later reprove.Wishing: In gladness and in safety,May all beings be at ease.Whatever living beings there may be;Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,The seen and the unseen,Those living near and far away,Those born and to-be-born,May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,Or despise any being in any state.Let none through anger or ill-willWish harm upon another.Even as a mother protects with her lifeHer child, her only child,So with a boundless heartShould one cherish all living beings:Radiating kindness over the entire worldSpreading upwards to the skies,And downwards to the depths;Outwards and unbounded,Freed from hatred and ill-will.

Whether standing or walking, seated or lying downFree from drowsiness,One should sustain this recollection.This is said to be the sublime abiding.By not holding to fixed views,The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,Being freed from all sense desires,Is not born again into this world.

There is only one reason why I have kept up a Buddhist Practice for the last 23 years:

Most of my Buddhist experience has been with a Theravadin Buddhist Preceptor. From Day One of my Buddhist Practice with her, the Metta Sutta has been at the centre of my life.

Back then, I was overwhelmed by anger. In fact, my life had been very adversely affected by a hidden, severe mental health disability. The anger was being fuelled by a silent, inner rage against the disability.

Lesson One: "Accept yourself. Forgive Yourself. Note that you are the Victim of the Disability and not the Perpetrator of the Disability. Buddhism may be used as Psychotherapy.

Meditation in Daily Life

Mnemonic for Dailiy Life: All you Need is Love.

I practise Buddhism under a qualified Buddhist Preceptor. She advised me that I would benefit from an extensive practice of Metta Mediation for Samatha [Tranquillity] Meditation.

The cultivation of Metta drives away anger (Dosa) and ill-will (Vyapada). Therefore, the development of loving-kindness should be practiced by those who have anger or ill-will. Extending one’s loving-kindness constantly is also an especially effective manner of merit making and is more meritorious than charity and observing the precepts; it moves one closer to Jhana as well. The Buddha states in the Book of Ekanipata of the Anguttaranikaya:

“Accharasanghatamattampi ce bhikkhave bhikkhu metta cittam

bhaveti asevati…”

which means,

“Bhikkhus, if you extend your loving-kindness for just an instant, you are said to be not far from Jhana, (even for such a period of time) being obedient and my faithful followers. Thus you waste not the food which the people give you. It is not necessary to consider the merit of those who extend loving-kindness for longer periods.”

Motivational Mantra:

Every day and in every way,

I am improving and getting better.

You see, if I remain angry and miserable, I cannot actually radiate Metta to anyone.

But my wife, a non-Buddhist has been so moved and impressed by the results of Buddhist Metta Meditation that she now reads the Metta Sutta silently each night before retiring for bed.

jhāna: 'absorption' (meditation) refers chiefly to the four meditative absorptions of the fine-material sphere (rūpa-jjhānaor rūpāvacara-jjhāna; s. avacara). They are achieved through the attainment of full (or attainment -, or ecstatic) concentration (appanā, s. samādhi), during which there is a complete, though temporary, suspension of fivefold sense-activity and of the 5 hindrances (s. nīvaraṇa). The state of consciousness, however, is one of full alertness and lucidity. This high degree of concentration is generally developed by the practice of one of the 40 subjects of tranquillity meditation(samatha-kammaṭṭhāna; s. bhāvanā).